1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication networks and, in particular, to providing systems and methods that determine whether a sender and/or a recipient of an electronic message (e.g., SMS message or MMS message) is located in a home zone defined for the sender and/or the recipient.
2. Statement of the Problem
Some service providers rate prepaid and postpaid calls based on the locations of a called party. The ratings are typically based on home zones defined by the service providers. The service providers map out particular geographic areas into calling areas, and define which of the calling areas comprise home zones for particular parties. A home zone comprises an area of a network where charging for calls is treated differently than charging outside of the home zone. If a called party is located in a home zone, then calls to the called party comprise local calls and are billed accordingly. If the called party is not located in a home zone, then calls to the called party comprise roaming calls and are billed accordingly.
In addition to voice services, many service providers offer text messaging services, such as Short Message Service (SMS). SMS is a service available to digital mobile phones that allows for transmitting and receiving short text messages. Many service providers also offer multimedia messaging services, such as Multimedia Message Service (MMS), that allow for transmitting and receiving not only text but also various kinds of multimedia content, such as images, audio clips, video clips, etc.
To send an SMS message, a sender first enters the text into a mobile phone or other text-enabled device. The sender then enters one or more phone numbers for the recipients of the SMS message, and sends the SMS message. A Short Message Service Center (SMSC) receives and stores the SMS message. The SMSC then attempts to forward the SMS message to the recipient when the recipient is available.
One problem with many SMS messaging services and MMS messaging services is that charging for the messaging services is flat rate. A subscriber to the messaging service typically pays a flat monthly rate, and can then send or receive messages regardless of whether they in a home zone. Service providers may want more control over the charging for these and other messaging services.